The present invention relates in general to data processing systems, and in particular, to a method and a system for controlling the configuration of computer systems.
In a complex computer system hardware (HW) environment, such as a high-end server, many subcomponents have to be managed and supervised. In such a server, a firmware component with system level overview on all reported (“detected”) components is used for configuration management and validation. With the increasing amount of hardware components installed, the problem of how to be sure that HW detection is complete becomes an increasingly important factor.
A state of the art solution in a mainframe is to identify all HW components via their Vital Product Data (VPD), compare current sensing results to previously detected HW components, and use timeouts to wait for hardware entities. However, defining the correct timeout period is a critical value, and long timeout periods contradict the requirement of firmware to report available HW components instantly to keep customer impact at a minimum. Additionally, this approach has further drawbacks, such as not being able to detect a newly plugged defective HW component, e.g. due to a defective connector.
As computer-based systems continue to become more advanced, an increasing number of device manufacturers are producing devices that can be used in conjunction with such systems (e.g., in a plug and play manner). However, this may lead to an introduction of unqualified and/or unauthorized (e.g., “grey market”) hardware components into computing systems. The introduction of such hardware components may negatively affect the reliability of the computing systems, warranty costs, and/or user productivity.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0097694 A1 discloses an approach for protecting electronic devices against the use of unqualified and/or unauthorized hardware components. Specifically a hardware component that a user is attempting to use with an electronic device is detected. Then, the device information associated with the hardware component (e.g., serial number, vital product data (VPD), etc.) is identified from the hardware component (e.g., as stored therein). The device information is then compared to a data structure (e.g., stored in a computer storage device) that identifies authorization indicia, such as, e.g., a set of known hardware components and associated component information. Based on this comparison, it is determined whether the hardware component is authorized to be used in conjunction with the electronic device. If not, the use of the hardware component in conjunction with the electronic device is prevented, and an alert is generated.
Thus, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0097694 A1 provides a computer-implemented method for protecting electronic devices against use of unauthorized hardware, comprising: detecting a hardware component that a user is attempting to use with an electronic device; identifying device information associated with the hardware component from the hardware component; comparing the device information against a data structure that identifies authorization indicia, the data structure being stored in at least one computer storage device; and determining whether the hardware component is authorized to be used in conjunction with the electronic device based on the comparing.